This year, I had my Advent gifts wrapped and sent before Advent began. It must have been a first! Each day in Advent, I give my two grand daughters an Advent gift. The gifts act like an Advent calendar.

This is a tradition which started years ago with a friend of mine. She gave me 25 Advent gifts; little items which she had acquired over the year. It was such a wonderful experience for me to open a gift of love each day that, for many years, I gave Advent gifts to my mother, father, mother-in-law, father-in-law and the friend who had started in all! That was a lot of Advent gifts!

When Mollie and Summer were little, we didn’t have the opportunity to spend Christmas Day with them, so I started the Advent gift tradition with them. It was my way of keeping in “Christmas contact” with them. They immediately loved the practice; their parents used the gifts as behavior modification tools and they had a happy path to Christmas Day.

Both girls are genuinely expressive of their gratitude and appreciation, no matter how small the gift. They send me texts and photos as they open their gifts. I can see the joy on their faces. I don’t think that their joy is only because they are getting loot. They are joyful because they know that they are loved. I am joyful because I am giving.

For me, there is more at work here than just the giving of gifts. These gifts create an anticipation for the great gift to come on Christmas morn. The first Advent gift each year is a little manger or creche to set the stage for this drama. I made Mollie a needlepoint Nativity set with Mary, Joseph, Jesus and some stable animals, when she was just a baby. She played with it as one would with dolls.

I have always loved the time before Christmas. I love the anticipation, the preparation, the hustle and bustle. I love the weather. Sometimes I get too caught up in the frenzy of the season, it happens. However, I am brought back to the meaning of this time and forgiven for this lapse by the little child whose birth we celebrate in a few weeks.

Advent is a different kind of penitential season; there is an element of joy and expectation that shines through the darkness of winter. It is a season of hope and love. And watching over it, over us, is our God who loves us unconditionally! Happy Advent!

Terri